Book Review – Christmas at Cranberry Cottage

📚 Christmas at Cranberry Cottage by Talli Roland.  

⚪️ Blurb: Home is where the heart is . . .  

With a whirlwind lifestyle travelling the world, the one thing Jess Millward relies on is Christmas with her gran in cosy Cranberry Cottage. When her grandmother reveals the house is directly in the path of a new high-speed railway, Jess is determined to fight. 

Can Jess save the cottage from demolition, or will she have no home to come to this Christmas?

⚪️ Review: Talli Roland is known for her warm romantic reads and easy pace that give us a laid-back and fulfilling read. Christmas at Cranberry Cottage is certainly no different. All that combined with the small and beautiful town of Lindbrook, the snugly and adorable Cranberry Cottage and the enchantment of Christmas, good family, and a good looking man has the feels on maximum.

Unfortunately I did have two grievances with the book. First, being the abrupt and baffling ending. And, secondly, heroine Jess Millward.

As most of you already know I am not one for abrupt endings at all. It is one of my pet hates. Christmas at Cranberry Cottage’s ending was so abrupt and dead that I was shocked and well disappointed. You can easily see from my description of the book above why I would feel so disappointed with the ending. It honestly made me feel like I read for nothing, like there was basically no point, and that is really such a shame.

As for Jess, I really didn’t connect with her at all. I found her to be selfish and hard faced. I honestly hoped numerous times that she would change my mind but she didn’t.

I am hoping there will be a follow-on read to Christmas at Cranberry Cottage, whether it be another novella or even a full novel because It would be such a shame to leave it where it there and for us not to get to know the characters in more depth and find out what’s gone on since. I’m sure if there was to be one the ending would make complete sense and I’d hopefully take to Jess like I was supposed too.

Even though there are negativities here, I still really need you all to know that regardless of them I did really enjoy it. It’s classic Talli Roland, and is perfect for those times were you all you just want to do is crash and relax. It’s honestly up there with fuzzy bed socks and hot sweet tea on a cold night. Comforting and needed. I hope you’ll all take a look at it. 

3/5

⚪️ Link to buy: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0153QVQ7Q/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1448566795&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=Christmas+a+cranberry+cottage&dpPl=1&dpID=51sRQwKf9YL&ref=plSrch
⚪️ About the author: Talli Roland writes bittersweet and witty contemporary women’s fiction. Born and raised in Canada, Talli now lives in London, where she savours the great cultural life (coffee and wine).

Despite training as a journalist, Talli soon found she preferred making up her own stories–complete with happy endings. Talli’s novels have been short-listed as Best Romantic Reads at the UK’s Festival of Romance and chosen as top books of the year by industry review websites.

Website: http://www.talliroland.com

Blog: http://talliroland.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1

Twitter: https://twitter.com/talliroland

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/AuthorTalliRoland

Book Review: Where They Found Her

Where They Found Her by Kimberly McCreight.

📚 Source: review copy courtesy of Simon & Schuster – thank you!

  

⚪️ Blurb: idyllic suburban town.

A devastating discovery.

Shocking revelations that will change three lives forever.

At the end of a long winter in well-to-do Ridgedale, New Jersey, the body of a newborn is found in the woods fringing the campus of the town’s prestigious university. No one knows the identity of the baby, what ended her very short life, or how she came to be found among the fallen leaves. But for the residents of Ridgedale, there is no shortage of opinions.

When freelance journalist and recent Ridgedale transplant Molly Sanderson is unexpectedly called upon to cover the disturbing news for the Ridgedale Reader—the town’s local paper—she has good reason to hesitate. A severe depression followed the loss of her own baby, and this assignment could unearth memories she has tried hard to bury. But the disturbing history Molly uncovers is not her own. Her investigation reveals a decades-old trail of dark secrets hiding behind Ridgedale’s white picket fences.

Told from the perspectives of three Ridgedale women, Kimberly McCreight’s taut and profoundly moving novel unwinds the tangled truth behind the tragedy, revealing that these women have far more in common than they could ever have imagined: that the very worst crimes are committed against those we love. And that—sooner or later—the past catches up to all of us.

⚪️ Review: idyllic suburban town.

A devastating discovery.

Shocking revelations that will change three lives forever.

At the end of a long winter in well-to-do Ridgedale, New Jersey, the body of a newborn is found in the woods fringing the campus of the town’s prestigious university. No one knows the identity of the baby, what ended her very short life, or how she came to be found among the fallen leaves. But for the residents of Ridgedale, there is no shortage of opinions.

When freelance journalist and recent Ridgedale transplant Molly Sanderson is unexpectedly called upon to cover the disturbing news for the Ridgedale Reader—the town’s local paper—she has good reason to hesitate. A severe depression followed the loss of her own baby, and this assignment could unearth memories she has tried hard to bury. But the disturbing history Molly uncovers is not her own. Her investigation reveals a decades-old trail of dark secrets hiding behind Ridgedale’s white picket fences.

Told from the perspectives of three Ridgedale women, Kimberly McCreight’s taut and profoundly moving novel unwinds the tangled truth behind the tragedy, revealing that these women have far more in common than they could ever have imagined: that the very worst crimes are committed against those we love. And that—sooner or later—the past catches up to all of us.

3.5/5

⚪️ Link to buy: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00LQMDFS0/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=&sr=

⚪️ Book Details: 

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK

Publication date: 24/09/2015

Language: English

Book length: 400 pages

ISBN-10: 1471111334

ISBN-13: 978-1471111334

⚪️ Author Details: Kimberly McCreight attended Vassar College and the University of Pennsylvania Law School from which she graduated cum laude. Her fiction and freelance writing has appeared in many publications including the New York Magazine. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two young daughters. Visit http://www.kimberlymccreight.com for more information.

📚mBook Review – Forever, Jack.

📚Forever, Jack (Eversea #2) – Natasha Boyd

⚪️Source: review copy courtesy of Headline Eternal – Thanks Guys!

⚪️ Blurb: A feisty small-town girl and the Hollywood star who broke her heart

An all-consuming love threatened by fame

One last chance at FOREVER

Keri Ann Butler’s life changed on the night she met movie star, Jack Eversea. She thought she knew a Jack that was very different to the man adored by fans the world over. In the wake of his betrayal and abandonment, Keri Ann has had to pick up and move forward with the life she was supposed to live and has put off far too long. 

Suddenly Jack is back, and his explanations for why he left seem more and more plausible, and his declarations more seductive. But being Jack’s latest tabloid accessory isn’t on Keri Ann’s career agenda, no matter how much she is attracted to him. And how can she can ever trust him again?

Jack knows he let the only ‘real’ thing that ever happened to him slip through his fingers. And his hands have been tied to try and stop it. Until Now.

Jack is now fighting to save his relationship with Keri Ann, even as his crazy life threatens to tear them apart. Again. The question is, can he convince her she can have it all? And have him? Forever?

⚪️ My review:  After finishing Eversea book one in the Eversea series, and being completely blown away, I could not wait to be back in the little town of Butlers Cove to find out what had happened next. I was more than impressed with how straight away with Forever Jack we start off exactly to the point where we left off with Eversea. Because of this you are thrown straight back in to complete and utter drama and with so much tension and excitement it has you engrossed.

Being back in Keri Ann and Jack’s world felt different this time somehow. I didn’t feel as connected to them as I did and I also took a disliking to Keri Ann. Her decisiveness and attitude had me rolling my eyes in parts and I just went off her. 

I enjoyed Forever Jack it wasn’t as good as book one and I found it did lack a bit of sauce. The plot was great though and it was nice to see old characters grow and to find out what was going to happen. It’s a cracking series that I would recommend to all true romantics and of course the new adult lovers.

3/5

Link to buy: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00GZQNJZQ?ie=UTF8&redirectFromSS=1&pc_redir=T1&noEncodingTag=1&robot_redir=1

📚 Book Review – DeadGirl

DeadGirl – B.C Johnson
Source: e-copy sent over for review by Curiosity Quills Press. Thanks Tanya.

Blurb:
Dead is such a strong word . . .

Lucy Day, 15 years old, is murdered on her very first date. Not one to take that kind of thing lying down, she awakens a day later with a seemingly human body and more than a little confusion. Lucy tries to return to her normal life, but the afterlife keeps getting in the way.

Zack, her crush-maybe-boyfriend, isn’t exactly excited that she ditched him on their first date. Oh, and Abraham, Lucy’s personal Grim Reaper, begins hunting her, dead-set on righting the error that dropped her back into the spongy flesh of a living girl. Lucy must put her mangled life back together, escape re-death, and learn to control her burgeoning powers while staying one step ahead of Abraham.

But when she learns the devastating price of coming back from the dead, Lucy is forced to make the hardest decision of her re-life — can she really sacrifice her loved ones to stay out of the grave?

Review:
There’s always a book that has you emotionally and physically invested from the first page. It will also have you unable to put it down at all. DeadGirl, to me, was that book.

From the awesome and totally engaging prologue, to the bewitching epilogue, I could not get enough. The descriptive and mesmerising dialogue, and fantastic plot with Its original and quirky charm spoke volumes to me about the creativity of author B.C Johnson, and I am seriously impressed.
Characters are kept to a minimum as it was mostly based on Heroine Lucy and a small group of her friends. Lucy is a great heroine. Strong willed, humorous, and real. I felt a connection with her more or less straight away. And, not only did I root for her throughout, but I also felt her within me. I ended up holding my breath when she did. Laugh when she did. Cry when she did. I’m sure you get the picture. I love when it when that kind of character/reader relationship blossoms. It will stick with you and be a book you read again and again because of it.

DeadGirl is without a doubt one of the best YA reads I have read. Its darkness, humour, and all round excellence has you utterly captivated. A book I would most certainly recommend.

4.5/5

Link to buy:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00PBA7D2C/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?qid=1418809096&sr=1-6&pi=AC_SX110_SY165

📚 Book Review – A Little Something….

A Little Something Different – Sandy Hall
Source: Review copy courtesy of Macmillan Children’s Books. Thanks guys!

Blurb:
The creative writing teacher, the delivery guy, the local Starbucks baristas, his best friend, her roommate, and the squirrel in the park all have one thing in common—they believe that Gabe and Lea should get together. Lea and Gabe are in the same creative writing class. They get the same pop culture references, order the same Chinese food, and hang out in the same places. Unfortunately, Lea is reserved, Gabe has issues, and despite their initial mutual crush, it looks like they are never going to work things out. But somehow even when nothing is going on, something is happening between them, and everyone can see it. Their creative writing teacher pushes them together. The baristas at Starbucks watch their relationship like a TV show. Their bus driver tells his wife about them. The waitress at the diner automatically seats them together. Even the squirrel who lives on the college green believes in their relationship.

Surely Gabe and Lea will figure out that they are meant to be together….

Review:
This book is as cute as cute can be. Narrated by not one, two, or even three people, but by thirteen people, a bench (yes, an actual bench you sit on), and a squirrel. They all have one thing in common, and that is Lea Fong and Gabe Cabrera. Some are friends and family, some are classmates, some are people who don’t know them. They just know that these two are made for each other.
Through their eyes we are introduced to both Gabe and Lea, we find out how both of them tick, and learn about their personalities and the characters they are. We also get to see what they see too. The obvious that is these two are crazy about each other, and seriously need their heads bashing together.

It’s a tense, rough, and intriguing road to follow but of course we do follow because we want to know the outcome. We will overcome every bump, twist and turn given to find out what is the real story behind these two, and why when even mathematics provides a calculation equivalent that these two should be together, why they are not.

A teen triumph of a read.
5/5

Link to buy:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00LB89MXQ/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1418779037&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX110_SY165

📚 Book Review – The Stall Of Seco….

The Stall Of Second Chances – Dana Bate
Source: Review copy courtesy of Corsair books. Thanks guys.

Blurb:
Sydney Strauss is obsessed with food. Not with eating it–though she does that too–but with writing about the wonders of the gastronomic world, from obscure fruit hybrids to organic farming techniques. Since food journalism jobs are more coveted than Cronuts®, Sydney pays her bills working for one of TV’s biggest egomaniacs–until she’s left scrambling for shifts at a local farmers’ market.

Stacking muffins for the Wild Yeast Bakery isn’t going to win her any James Beard awards. But soon Sydney is writing the market’s weekly newsletter, and her quirky stories gain attention from a prominent food columnist. After years of putting her love life into deep freeze, she’s even dating again. And then Sydney gets a shot at the story, one that could either make her career or burn it to a crisp–along with her relationship and her reputation…

Review:
The Stall Of Second Chances is every food and romance lovers dream. Packed full of delicious food, and men. Family and friendship. It is seriously drama central. Lies, deceit, secrets. It’s all going on in heroine Sydney Strauss’s life.

Now I’m very hard to please, and I have to admit I loved the whole idea of this book. And the plot is good. Unfortunately, I just felt it dragged on and lacked suspense. I detested Sydney and her poor me attitude, and how she thought she was better than people. She spoilt the book a lot for me.

2.5/5

Link to buy:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00O9U6IB2?ie=UTF8&redirectFromSS=1&pc_redir=T1&noEncodingTag=1&robot_redir=1

📚 Book Review – I Will Marry George….

I Will Marry George Clooney (By Christmas) – Tracy Bloom
Source: Review copy courtesy of author.

Blurb:
There comes a time in every woman’s life when the only answer is to marry George Clooney.

For Michelle, that time is now.

Slogging her guts out in a chicken factory whilst single-handedly bringing up a teenager who hates her is far from the life that 36-year-old Michelle had planned.

But marrying the most eligible man on the planet by Christmas could change all that, couldn’t it?

Sometimes your only option is to dream the impossible – because you never know where it might take you.

Review:
I absolutely love Tracy Bloom, me. A newbie in contemporary fiction, but a name you need to know. She’s a fast, funny, unique writer, with a head full of quirky characters and original plot lines. I think she’s marvellous. And, I also think I Will Marry George Clooney (By Christmas) is testimony to that.

Seriously from the first couple of lines into the book I was hit with realistic statements that required both smirking and giggling. The smirking and giggling carried on throughout the read, and was joined by laughter, and a lot of raw emotion, and lots of chicken. It’s not just your typical RomCom though, it is a tape of a mother’s love for her child, and the depths she will go to prove it.

A refreshing change to a festive read.
4/5

Link to buy:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00HFAMOTS/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1418349884&sr=1-1&pi=AC_SY200_QL40

📚 Book Review – Coming Home…..

Coming Home For Christmas – Julia Williams
Source: Personal Copy.

Blurb:
These three friends are dreading Christmas …

Cat needs to get off the ‘has-been’ heap and rescue her flagging TV career but the demands of her extended family are reaching fever pitch and she barely has time to breathe. Meanwhile, Pippa has got too many balls to juggle as a struggling single mum trying to hang on to her family farm. And Marianne’s marriage is looking distinctly rocky now her beloved husband’s ex is back on the scene.

Happy Christmas? Forget it.

But Christmas is a time for miracles, and when the villagers learn they must fight for what they love, it becomes clear that there is festive magic in the air.

Suddenly for Cat, Pippa and Marianne, it’s looking like it might just be a Christmas to remember …

Review:
I was seriously looking forward to reading Coming Home For Christmas and getting to know Julia Williams as an author because I hadn’t read anything by her. Straight in, I found a laid-back vibe, and a story about village life told by three close friends, Pippa, Cat, and Marianne. And, with a diary entry every so often from Pippa’s ex-husband Dan.

Excited as I was, I was very disappointed with the read. I found the swapping of character narration after a paragraph or few confusing, as half of the time by the time I had gotten back round to that certain character, I had either forgot what was going on, or found it didn’t pick up where it left off. It felt very disjointed. I also felt I was constantly being retold things throughout. That really had my eyes rolling. I unfortunately didn’t make any connections with any of the characters, which hindered the overall story. I also felt the 90% of the book was just dilemma, after dilemma, after dilemma. There was no joy at all until the last 10%. It was just too much moaning for me, and I’m a seriously good moaner too.

I hate that this is such a negative review, but Coming Home For Christmas was just not for me.
1/5

Link to buy:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00NENTDVC/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1418160207&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SY200_QL40

📚 Book Review – Cold Feet At Christmas

Cold Feet At Christmas – Debbie Johnson
Source: e-copy courtesy of Harper Impulse via Netgalley.

Blurb:
Running out on your wedding shouldn’t be this much fun!

A remote Scottish castle on a snowy Christmas Eve. A handsome husband-to-be. A dress to die for. It should have been the happiest day of Leah Harvey’s life – but the fairytale wedding turns sour when she finds her fiancé halfway up the bridesmaid’s skirt just hours before the ceremony!

Fleeing the scene in a blizzard, Leah ends up stranded at the nearest cottage, where she collapses into the arms of its inhabitant – a man so handsome she thinks she must have died and gone to heaven!

And when Rob Cavelli suddenly finds himself with an armful of soaking wet, freezing cold, and absolutely gorgeous bride on the run, he’s more than happy to welcome her into his snowbound cottage this Christmas…

Review:
With a cover and blurb like that, this was a Christmas book I knew I needed to read. It looked and sounded like Christmas in chick lit form. And, to be fair it actually is Christmas in chick lit form.

It is without a doubt one of the best Christmas reads I’ve ever read. It is full to bursting with emotion, scandal, drama, twists and turns. It is fabulous!

Do you know what has shocked me more about this book? It isn’t the fact that it has a great plot. It isn’t the fact that it has amazing characters that you fall in love with and form deep connections too. It isn’t the fact that it’s really funny. And, it isn’t the fact that it has been one of the only books in a very long time that has been able to make me feel heartache so raw that it hurts. It is the fact that I did not just get the usual Christmas chick lit I expected. I got a fantastic chick lit/new adult mix that was as hot as hell. It was brilliance! It is certainly a read I won’t be forgetting in a while, and one I know for me as blown other Christmas books out the door.

It is a brilliant mix of love and hate, good and bad, love and lust. It is a Christmas cracker that when opened bangs louder than little drummer boys drum, and gives you an actual diamond tiara over a paper crown!
5/5

Link to buy:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00NKY0TAE/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1418028976&sr=1-1&pi=AC_SY200_QL40

📚 Book Review – Jenny Lopez Saves Christmas

Jenny Lopez Saves Christmas – Lindsey Kelk
Source: personal copy

Blurb:
Jenny Lopez has had a crappy twelve months.

Determined to turn her festive frown upside down, she plans a super winter getaway for her nearest and dearest: ski cabin in Vermont, the best Christmas tree the world has ever seen and more bottles of champagne than is possibly legal to transport across state lines.

But nothing goes to plan and before she knows it, Jenny’s awesome super funtimes Christmas has turned into a dry, dull couples’ retreat. But this is Jenny Lopez. She’s going to have the best Christmas known to man and she’s not prepared to accept anything less, even if it means snowshoe-ing to the nearest store and dragging a turkey three miles in the snow. Even if it means chopping up her beloved Christmas tree to start a fire. Even if it means standing up a hot, wealthy doctor (a doctor, people!) to make sure everyone gets the holiday they deserve.

With her best friends, Angela and Erin, by her side Jenny Lopez is determined to save Christmas. Whether it likes it or not.

Review:
As always Lindsey Kelk has provided us with a fast flowing, witty, dramatic, and uber chaotic story. As soon as you start you are thrown right in to it and it does not let you go until the end. When the end comes though, you are furious that it’s finished. You just want more fun, more friendship, more sexy Santa dresses, more crushes, more dick pictures, naughtiness and snow. But most of all more Jenny Lopez.

This is bang on trend, Christmas brilliance!
5/5

Link to buy:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00BOCXFJ6/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1418028346&sr=1-1&pi=AC_SY200_QL40